- BEING A FATHER OF FIVE & FIGHTING

by Jeff Cain – MMAWeekly.com
Ronald ‘The Machine Gun’ Jhun takes on MMAWeekly’s own Frank ‘Twinkle Toes’ Trigg in the opening round of the Rumble on the Rock 8 welterweight tournament that kicks off January 20th. Sixteen fighters in sixteen days is back by popular demand with Ronald Jhun talking about his first round match up with Frank Trigg.

Ronald Jhun is a father of five and a full-time construction worker trying to balance work, family life, and a fighting career. Ronald’s had a roller coaster career in Mixed Martial Arts looking impressive at times. His career has been marked by peaks and valleys and is in a valley. He holds wins over Dave Strasser, Pete Spratt, Shonnie Carter, Ryan Schultz, and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ season two participants: Joe Stevenson and Jason Von Flue, early in their careers. The last year and a half have been rough. Jhun has lost four of his last five fights and is determined to make Frank Trigg the beginning on an upward track.

With five kids and a full-time job, can Ronald put in the time training to be a serious fighter? He said, “I work construction, so for me I feel that is a workout, doing the daily working: climbing the ladder, carrying material; for me that’s like a workout in a day. I come home at night and I train. I’ve got a solid wife who takes care of the kids. She knows that I’ve got to get into my training. She plays a big role in my fight career.”
Ronald continued, “I’ve been training at a high level too, trying to step up my game. I guarantee it’s going to end up in probably a greco-Roman fighting, dirty boxing fight in the clinches . . . I think that whoever withstands the storm and is in better shape is going too win that night.”

Trigg has commented that he plans to stand and trade with Jhun, but Ronald isn’t buying it. He said, “They all say they’re going to stand and they do something else, so . . . This is MMA. I mean whatever he feels like doing. You’re out there to fight. You stand and if you get hit, who knows? You take the guy down. I just think Frank Trigg is going to bring a war.”

Ronald added, “Frank Trigg has fought the best in the world. Like I said, I’ve always trained for a big fight no matter who I take. Fighting someone like Trigg just steps my game up a notch. I ain’t taking him light, and I hope he ain’t taking me light.”
Questioned what concerns him most about Frank Trigg, Jhun replied, “I can’t say I ain’t concerned about Trigg. It’s just more myself I’m worried about me showing up and me reacting. Trigg has got a great wrestling background. He’s a solid wrestler, always comes forward. Just being consistent. Just me reacting to his movement out there, and trying to counter his wrestling, and his stand up, and his Thai and all of that. The thing that concerns me is that he’s unpredictable. If you’ve watched his last three or four fights, he comes out and fights to the style of the fighter . . . I mean he’s unpredictable.”

Jhun feels he has one advantage over Frank Trigg and that it will pay off in their fight. He commented, “You can’t question my heart. Trigg, like I said, he brings it. I don’t think Trigg has ever faced anyone like me, someone who never gives up. I think that alone speaks volumes right there.”

Jhun brought up an interesting point about the pressure on him and Trigg entering this fight. He said, “I think it’s better for me than him because if he wins they’re going to say Trigg should have won. If I win, I’m back on the map.”

Asked if there are holes in Trigg’s game that he can exploit, Jhun answered, “A lot of fighters have holes in their armor. Basically, at the level we fight, the first man that makes a mistake and you capitalize on it. That’s basically what I saw in his last few fights. Trigg was doing good. He made a mistake and his opponent capitalized on it. If you don’t recover and turn the fight around and capitalize on the other guy’s mistakes, it could be short night for anybody.”

Closing out the interview, Jhun was asked his prediction for the fight. He answered, “I’m not one to predict man. I expect a war. Anytime I fight, my name is on a fight card, some big things are going to happen.”